Home Office

Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2021/22

Baroness Williams of Trafford: My hon Friend the Minister of State for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:My Rt Hon Friend, the Home Secretary, has today laid before the House the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2021/22 (HC 1162). The Report sets out the Home Secretary’s determination for 2021/22 of the aggregate amount of grants that she proposes to pay under section 46(2) of the Police Act 1996. Copies of the Report are available from the Vote Office. The allocations that have been laid before the House today are as set out in my Statement and provisional Police Grant Report of 17 December 2020. Available funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) is made up of Government grants and police precept. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has today set out the council tax referendum principles that will apply to the police precept, for approval by the House of Commons. Council tax levels are a local decision and elected PCCs will rightly want to consider what they are asking people to pay to fulfil their strong desire to keep our streets safe. The council tax referendum principles are not a cap, nor do they force local authorities to set taxes at the threshold level. Rather they are an additional local democratic check to prevent excessive increases. The forthcoming PCC elections also provide an opportunity for local taxpayers to have their say on the spending decisions of their elected representatives. In 2021/22, the overall funding settlement for the policing system will total up to £15.8 billion, a £636 million increase on the 2020/21 funding settlement. Depending on local decisions, available funding to PCCs could increase next year by up to an additional £703 million. This would represent an increase to PCC funding of up to 5.4% in cash terms on the 2020/21 police funding settlement. If the public were asked to approve greater increases via a local referendum, and voted for such changes, precept funding would increase accordingly. The attached table documents funding to PCCs for 2021/22, including Capital grant and precept.Table PCCs funding (pdf, 50.3KB)

Leader of the House of Lords

Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister has made the following statement:The Government has today introduced the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill in order to make provision for ministers and opposition office holders to be able to take maternity leave. I am grateful to Her Majesty’s Opposition for its constructive engagement in preparation of the Bill and welcome its support for the measure. The choice between taking leave to recover from childbirth and care for a new-born child or resigning from office is not acceptable in modern times. The current provision for Statutory Maternity Pay for employees has in contrast been in place since 1987, and some form of maternity grant, even for those who are not employed, has been in place since the National Insurance Act of 1911. Changes that I made to The Ministerial Code on becoming Prime Minister set out provision for junior ministers to be able to take maternity leave. However, this work-around relies on another minister taking on additional responsibilities and cannot be used for Secretary of State or individual offices, such as the Law Officers or the Lord Chancellor. Until now, the limits on the number of salaries that can be paid overall, and for individual offices has left the Government with limited flexibility to appoint cover should a Minister want to go on maternity leave. In the absence of that flexibility, a senior minister wishing to go on maternity leave would likely need to resign from the Government. The Bill creates a designation of “Minister on Leave” which provides for ministers to take maternity leave. This will also apply to certain Opposition post holders too. Ministers on leave will remain part of the government and be able to be briefed on matters and kept in touch with work, but will not be responsible for exercising the functions of the office from which they are on leave. This is a necessary piece of legislation. However, it does not resolve wider issues such as adoption and parental leave, absences for sickness and other reasons, and unpaid roles. These are complex issues which require careful consideration, taking into account modern working practices and the wider constitutional context. The Government will present a report to Parliament setting out considerations and proposals. I am placing in the Libraries of the House a policy document titled Maternity Leave and other absences by Ministers which provides further information, including on the practicalities of these arrangements. The Bill and its explanatory notes are being published today.

Ministry of Justice

Eleventh Annual Report of the UK’s National Preventive Mechanism

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar: My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Robert Buckland) has made the following Written Statement."The United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), which the UK ratified in December 2003, requires States Parties to establish a “National Preventive Mechanism” (NPM) to carry out visits to places of detention to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.The Government established the UK NPM in March 2009 (Hansard 31 March 2009, Vol. 490, Part No. 57, Column 56WS). The UK NPM is currently composed of 21 scrutiny bodies covering the whole of the UK.Following previous practice, I have presented to Parliament the 11th NPM’s annual report (Command Paper 366). This report covers the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.I again commend the important work that the NPM has carried out over the year and the NPM’s independent role in safeguarding the human rights of detainees across the UK and its role in preventing torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. The Government takes allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment very seriously and any allegations are investigated fully. The Government does not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture for any purpose.The NPM report includes observations in relation to prisons, mental health detention and social care, children in detention, immigration detention and police and court custody. Notably, the report sets out the NPM’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Government action since the beginning of the pandemic has helped to limit the spread of the virus in prisons. With the country now in national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, prisons have introduced tougher measures to help save lives and protect the NHS. These include routinely testing all staff as well as new prisoners so we can better protect our staff and isolate those who test positive even earlier, and rolling out of the vaccine to older prisoners, mirroring the community roll-out and beginning with those aged 80+ this month, to protect the most vulnerable. This is in addition to the stringent safety measures already in place to protect staff, prisoners and children in custody, which Public Health England endorsed as being effective in limiting the spread of the virus, and ultimately in saving lives."

Department of Health and Social Care

Ministerial Correction: Response to Lord Moynihan on Covid-19 vaccines

Lord Bethell: During the debate on 12 November 2020 on the Covid-19 Update statement, made in the House of Commons on 10 November 2020, I was asked by Lord Moynihan about undertaking work with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the offer of advice to the sporting world regarding COVID-19 vaccines.The response indicated that Colleagues at DCMS were aware of this concern and had sought advice from the WPA, which was incorrect. To clarify, we had not sought advice from DCMS at this point in time and I would like to correct the record on this point.The House may be interested to know that UK Anti-Doping has provided several updates on the issue. The first was published on 14 December 2020 shortly after the World Anti-Doping Agency issued its statement assuring the vaccines would not contravene anti-doping rules: https://www.ukad.org.uk/news/ukad-statement-following-wada-advice-covid-19-vaccines.UK Anti-Doping continues to update its website with relevant information and advice.

COVID-19 update

Lord Bethell: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock) has made the following written statement:On 5 January 2021, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020 (All Tier Regulations) were amended. These amendments instructed people across England to stay at home and only to leave where they have a legally permitted reasonable excuse, as well as requiring the closure of many businesses and venues.We are getting the virus under control, however the numbers of Covid-19 cases, hospital and ICU admissions, and deaths remain extremely high nationally. As a result, our hospitals are still under significant pressure from Covid-19.As of 1 February, the weekly case rate in England has decreased to 294 per 100,000 for all ages, compared to a rate of 421 the week before and 233 per 100,000 in people aged 60 and over, in comparison to 332 per 100,000. There are 7 local authorities with case rates greater than 500 per 100,000. Overall positivity for England is 11.9%, which is a 1.8% decrease over the last 7 days. Case rates for all ages have decreased but remain high or very high across all regions. Case rates also remain very high in the West Midlands (350 per 100,000), the East of England (308 per 100,000) and the North West (320 per 100,000). The lowest case rates are in the South West (200 per 100,000) – a 30% decrease from last week. The highest positivity is in London (22%) and lowest in the South West (6.9%).The measures the government have put in place are bringing down the number of cases however, these figures are significantly higher in comparison to early December and there still remains considerable pressure on NHS systems nationwide as although hospitalisations are now decreasing bed occupancy is still high and remains ~50% above the peak of the first wave. General and acute bed occupancy for COVID-19 across England has decreased by 4,023 to 26,216 from 30,239 last week. Mechanical ventilation bed occupancy for COVID-19 across England has similarly decreased to 3,366 from 3,736 in the previous week. Deaths within 28 days of a positive test remain high, there have been 7,898 COVID-19 related deaths in England, from 18 January 2021 to 24 January 2021.In line with our commitments, I have kept the measures in place for the national lockdown under ongoing review. On 2 February I completed a review of the geographical allocations as required by the regulations and have determined that it is necessary for all areas in England to remain in Tier 4 in order to tackle the threat posed by the COVID-19. Whilst there are early indications that new infections may have started to decline in those areas which have been under stricter measures for the longest, scientific advice and the latest epidemiological data is clear that lifting restrictions now would be too early. We recognise the strain that these restrictions have placed on people across the country, but we must continue to take the necessary steps to slow the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives. The restrictions are kept under continual review and will be lifted as soon as it is safe to do so.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence Votes A Annual Estimate 2021/22

Baroness Goldie: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence (Ben Wallace) has today released the following written statement.The Ministry of Defence Votes A Estimate 2021/22, will be laid before the House on 4 February 2021 as HC 1125. This outlines the maximum numbers of personnel to be maintained for each Service in the Armed Forces during Financial Year 2021/22.

Ministry of Defence Votes A Supplementary Votes 2020/21

Baroness Goldie: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Ben Wallace) has today releaed the following written statement.The Ministry of Defence Votes A Supplementary Votes 2020/21, will be laid before the House on 4 February 2021 as HC 1126. This outlines the increased maximum numbers of personnel to be maintained for Service in the Army Reserve full-time service (FTRS) and Air Force during Financial Year 2020/21.